Two minute date: Gerard Butler

Given the long list of title roles he's played in the past, Gerard Butler should be more well known. The 3 7-year old Scot held top spots in Dracula 2000, Attila, Beowulf and Grendel (as Beowulf) and Phantom of the Opera - all costumed characters that have kept him from becoming a household face. "My best disguise is just me," Butler says. "If I were to put on a mask and sweep my hair back, or if I were to grow my hair to my ass, or make myself look ridiculous, then I would get recognized."

Although he's still in costume as King Leonidas in this month's 300 (the movie adaptation of Frank Miller's graphic novel), he's certain more, well, visible. Leonidas's teeny-bikini Spartan getup just might be Butler's most challenging outfit to date.

"The first day, when I had to put on that leather thong and walk through the crew," he says, "all these guys stopped chewing their sandwiches, with bits of egg and tuna hanging out of their mouths. I was thinking, "Oh my God, I can't believe I am doing this". But with three personal trainers, spear-and-sword work, and pumping iron between shots, he earned the right to strut. "I didn't want to be that actor who's pretending to be strong and tough, but isn't. I always wanted the stunt guys around me going he's f--king crazy".

And maybe he is a little crazy. Butler - who moved to London to try his hand at acting the day after being fired from his first job as a lawyer - now loves nothing more than sharing stories of his misbegotten adventures on-set. Consider: the car accident he got into with Pierce Brosnan while filming Butterfly on a Wheel ("I was told, 'Don't worry. There's no way you'll crash into the wall.'"), or the time he injured our cover girl, Hilary Swank with a suspender clip during striptease scene while filming P.S.I Love You. "I thought, Why not try to kill a two-time Oscar winner." he says with the kind of sarcasm one can get away with only if blessed with a Scottish lilt.

Indeed, the manly burr came in handy while he was playing Leonidas. "There's nobody tougher than Spartans", Butler says. "I didn't want to be shouting things like 'Spartans, tonight we dine in hell!' in an English accent.